B flat major

Today I’m playing Katy Perry’s 2013 song Roar, a song which topped the charts in 97 countries, has sold over 10 million units and is one of the best-selling songs of all time. I hope you enjoy this one today!

Today’s song is dedicated to all my Canadian friends and family as they celebrate Canada Day. The Maple Leaf Forever was written in 1867 by Alexander Muir. Inspired by a maple tree which stood opposite his house, Maple Cottage in Memory Lane and Laing Street in Toronto, this song became an unofficial anthem for English-speaking Canadians. There is still some controversy associated with the song apparently, since its original version was not popular among French Canadians. However it has been rewritten a number of times to incorporate words appropriate to both English and French-speaking communities in Canada, and I hope my choice of this song today is appropriate for everyone!

It’s time for another Billy Joel song: today I’m playing This Night, a doo-wop classic from 1984 featuring the melody from Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata. Indeed, “L.V. Beethoven” is credited as one of the song’s writers on the album notes. I hope you enjoy this song!

The cheese alert is still in force. Here’s another song we talked about (and sang) last Saturday night, after a discussion about the organ playing of Klaus Wunderlich! Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep was first recorded in 1971 by its composer Lally Stott, but then made famous later that year by Scottish band Middle of the Road. Believe it or not, it is one of fewer than 40 singles to have sold more than 10 million physical copies worldwide, though few would admit to owning it! I hope you enjoy this cheesy throwback to the 70s.

Today’s tune is the theme tune from the 80s TV show Cagney and Lacey. Admittedly the first 2 and a half minutes are quite different from anything that was ever heard on the show, but again it just goes to show how a good tune works in different styles! Well, hopefully it works… The theme was written by Bill Conti and replaced an earlier opening sequence in the first season of the show which featured the Michael Stull song Ain’t That The Way sung by Marie Cain.

Today is St George’s day and while there are no doubt many English songs I could play, my news feed this morning is full of all things Catalan, as St George is also the patron saint of Catalonia where he’s known as Sant Jordi. So today’s song is Barcelona, the wonderful collaboration between Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé from 1987. Freddie Mercury had been a fan of opera for many years and was very keen to collaborate with Caballé. He wrote Barcelona with Mike Moran for it to be performed at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Since Caballé’s schedule made it difficult for her to be involved in the initial recordings, Mercury sang his own part and then overdubbed the soprano parts in falsetto in the original demo recordings. I hope you enjoy my performance of this classic song.

First released on the 1971 John Denver album Poems, Prayers and Promises, Sunshine On My Shoulders was then released as a single in 1974 and quickly went to #1 of the Billboard Top 100. This is a special song for a special day.

A nice, cheery song today – When You’re Smiling, originally made famous by Louis Armstrong in 1929, but since recorded by hundreds of artists. It’s apparently the official song of football club Leicester City and one of the strangest performances of the song is from the 1995 Woody Allen film Mighty Aphrodite when it’s performed by a Greek chorus at the end of the film! I hope this song brings a smile to you this Saturday morning!

Today I’m playing Sandy from the musical Grease. It’s sung by Danny Zuko about his girlfriend Sandy Dumbrowski who has just left him alone at the Drive-In movie theatre. Last night my 10 year-old son sang this song at his “Night at the Musicals” school concert and did a brilliant job! Proud daddy 🙂